Jennifer Mitchell

Within my twenty- seven years in Education, I have had a variety of instructional experiences. I have taught all Elementary grades, first- through fifth, taught at the University level and worked with School Improvement through the Florida Department of Education. All of these experiences have really guided my way of thinking about what is important in teaching. One key point that I have always tried to remember is to keep the learning fresh, relevant and practical. It seems to make sense to teach the way I love to learn! Since I first started teaching in 1995 my overall teaching philosophy has grown and developed, yet the basic tenets of it have remained the same. I am a life- long learner and I want my students, no matter what age, to feel that same desire to learn new knowledge. I believe practical, hands-on learning will develop that desire. The words of John Dewey, Lev Vygotsky, Marie Clay, Regie Routman, Richard Allington, and John Gardner speak to me daily regarding my teaching. I have meshed the work of all of these researchers to form the meaning of what I feel works best for students, whether they are Elementary or University students. I have always been a proponent of using a clearly defined Gradual Release Model, which means providing the appropriate amount of scaffolding now, so my students can do it on their own eventually (some sooner than others). The importance of differentiating instruction has been a major part of my teaching philosophy and research agenda. I have conducted several research studies in this area and understand that this truly means different things to different people. I see two ways of looking at it. One way is thinking about different modalities that people use to learn. Some might see this as visual, kinesthetic, or auditory, while others see the work of Howard Gardner related to Multiple Intelligences. I believe we are all smart in our own way and that my job as a teacher is to work with my students to help guide them to find their “smartness” so they can be productive. The other way to look at differentiating instruction is through using data to make optimal choices about what students do and don’t know and where instruction needs to start for each child. In my work with school improvement, I have found that at many lower achieving schools this has become the key focus for the faculty and staff. However, I feel that both ways of looking at differentiating instruction are equally important. Maybe the data part comes first, but teaching to the modalities, making learning fun and exciting has to be a part of it too. I have included many methods of differentiating instruction within my graduate and undergraduate courses, hoping to make the learning more relevant. Overall, I feel this is the key to good teaching - making learning relevant. As teachers, we work to support our students in this. By reaching students where they are, we can meet their needs and the needs of our global society. Reaching out to students in multiple ways helps promote the collegiality that is vital in educating today’s students. I believe in making learning accessible for all. At times, this has meant teaching soldiers abroad, new parents, students who preferred distance education, or students who were “place bound” and needed distance education. Online teaching requires a different approach. In my online courses, I work hard to develop the same “approachable, practical, hands- on” approach in my online courses as I have in my face- to – face courses. I make a point to put myself in my students’ shoes and think about how I can best support them. I recently finished a fully online second Masters program (Educational Leadership). This experience helped me understand the needs of online students better as I made my way through the courses. I used this as a reflective time for me in order to improve my own online courses.